FAR Subpart 22.15 – Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor sets forth regulatory guidance for the identification of products that the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and State have a reasonable basis to believe might have been mined, produced, or manufactured by forced or indentured child labor. See Federal Register Notice “Federal Acquisition Regulation; Prohibition of Acquisition of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor”. The U.S. Department of State’s Fact Sheet “Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Public Procurement” provides additional guidance.

FAR Subpart 22.17 - Combating Trafficking in Persons sets forth regulatory guidance to implement the improved safeguards called for by Title XVII of the NDAA for FY 2013 Ending Trafficking in Government Contracting and Executive Order 13627 Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking In Persons In Federal Contracts. These safeguards include:

• a number of express prohibitions on certain types of trafficking related activities (e.g., prohibition on charging employees recruitment fees; destroying, concealing, confiscating or otherwise denying access to identity or immigration documents)
• risk management practices (e.g., an employee awareness program, a recruitment and wage plan, a housing plan).

See Federal Register Notice “Federal Acquisition Regulation; Ending Trafficking in Persons”. Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-20-01 of 21 October 2019 Anti-Trafficking Risk Management Best Practices & Mitigation Considerations provides additional guidance.

Consider Risks by Sector

Depending on the sector, certain human rights are at higher risk than others. The chart below identifies resources that can be consulted to determine whether and what risks may exist in specific sectors for procurements. This chart is intended to be illustrative, not comprehensive or authoritative. This chart is not a substitute for market research specific to your procurement. The abbreviations used are spelled out below the chart.

BHR – Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Private Military and Security Companies

DIFI - Norwegian Agency for Public Management and eGovernment (DIFI), List of High Risk Goods

DOL - US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs' List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor, and Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. The List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor and the List of Products Produced by Forced or Indentured Child Labor are easily searchable by good/product and by country.

GNI - Global Network Initiative Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy

ICoC - International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers

IFC 2 - International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 2: Labor and Working Conditions (2012)

IFC 5 - International Finance Corporation Performance Standard 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement (2012)

ILO - International Labor Organization Country Profile provides information on International Labor Standards (such as ratification information, reporting requirements, comments of the ILO's supervisory bodies, etc.) organized by country.

ILO 2 - Global Dialogue Forum on Good Practices and Challenges in Promoting Decent Work in Construction and Infrastructure Projects

SC - Solidarity Center, Textile Workers

SOMO – Freedom of Association in the Electronics Industry

VERITE - U.S. Department of State-funded report by Verite, Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal and Corporate Supply Chains

VP - Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights

Consider Risks by Country

Human rights risks vary not only by sector, but by country. When sourcing from a foreign country, the following resources can help you identify country specific risks.

• U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
• U.S. Department of State’s Annual Trafficking in Persons Report
• U.S. Department of Labor's Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Consider a Human Rights Procurement Assessment

Determine priority issues on which to engage:

• Entrepreneur association MVO Nederland’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Risk Check enables purchasers to search possible CSR risks by product and country and provides guidance and best practices.
• Shift’s Business Model Red Flags enables users to filter 24 Business Model Red Flags by sector or industry and provides questions for businesses, mitigation examples and other tools and resources.

If there is a high risk for adverse impacts on human rights, consider using the solicitation to alert contractors to potential human rights impacts related to their supply of goods or services. Also, consider using the solicitation to encourage the contractor to publicly disclose policies and procedures that minimize adverse impacts on human rights. A useful tool that assists companies in developing such disclosures is the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework. Informing the contractor about these risks and encouraging transparent reporting will help minimize risks to your organization from these practices and let contractors know you are interested in avoiding these impacts.

Depending on the risks your market research reveals and the dollar value and complexity of the procurement, consider requiring contractors to implement one or more of the following practices. Such requirements should be narrowly tailored to address the specific risks you have identified.

• Organization publicly discloses the names and locations of the factories, farms, mines, and/or other suppliers from which it and/or its suppliers source.
• Publicly disclose human rights policies and procedures using the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework, or other tools (for example, on company’s website).
• Comply with a code of conduct that includes International Labor Organization core labor standards and domestic law on wages, hours of work and safe working conditions.
• Notify subcontractors and vendors of human rights risks related to the supply of goods or services, and demonstrate this notification to the contracting officer.
• Be a member of and/or implement principles in a relevant initiative, guideline, or standard. See Responsible Business Resources
• Implement a risk-mitigation plan to prevent human rights abuses.
• Provide a grievance process and remedies for workers or communities if human rights violations occur.
• Cooperate with credible auditing or monitoring programs that incorporate feedback from affected workers and communities.

This sample solicitation/contract language may be used as a starting point for addressing common risks associated with responsible business conduct. While the sample language represents one potential approach, other language or equivalent certifications may be used to address these risks. It is important to tailor the goals and requirements to each individual acquisition.

For questions on procurements with a high risk for adverse impacts on human rights or labor rights, you may contact: HRProcurement@state.gov.

Share appropriate resources or tools with the contractor that may assist them with conducting business responsibly and developing their organizational policies. Examples include:

• International Guidelines: The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights assists contractors with aligning their organizational policies with international guidelines.
• Identifying Organizational Risks:
  • Human Rights Compliance Assessment Quick Check: This tool is designed to assist organizations with identifying potential human rights violations.
  • International Trade Centre Standards Map provides information on standards, codes of conduct, audit protocols addressing hotspots in global supply chains.
  • Responsible Sourcing Tool: This tool assists contractors with understanding the risks of human trafficking in supply chains and implement effective management systems to detect, prevent, and combat trafficking.
• Improving Organizational Performance:
  • Social Compliance System: This U.S. Department of Labor online resource provides step-by-step guidance to businesses that seek to develop and improve social compliance systems to address child labor and forced labor in supply chains.
  • Business and Human Rights Resource Centre: This website provides comprehensive information on global business and human rights.
  • OECD Good Practice Guidance on Internal Controls, Ethics, and Compliance: This international publication is designed to assist firms in complying with anti-corruption laws.
  • Investment Climate Statements: This U.S. Department of State website provides annual country reports on investment climate, including labor rights and corporate social responsibility.
  • Purchasers Guide for Addressing Labor and Human Rights Impacts in IT Procurements: This guidance assists purchasers with addressing labor and human rights impacts on IT procurements.
• Benchmarking Organizational Performance:
  • Global Reporting Initiative: This international organization assists businesses, governments, and organizations with understanding and communicating issues such as human rights.
  • UL SPOT: This database allows users to search for products meeting environmental criteria and supplied by organizations having practices in place to prevent and address corporate social responsibility concerns.
  • United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights Reporting Framework: This framework enables companies to report on their human rights performance.
  • United Nations Guiding Principles Reporting Database: This database shows what companies are saying about how they implement the UN Guiding Principles.
• Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: Company membership in a relevant Multi-Stakeholder Initiative assists in publicly demonstrating implementation of the applicable principles.

Sector	Multi-Stakeholder Initiative
Food (e.g., cocoa, coffee, rice, sugarcane, fruit)	Fair Food Standards Council Fair Labor Association (FLA) Marine Stewardship Council
Textiles (e.g., carpet, footwear, garments)	Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) Fair Labor Association (FLA) GoodWeave
Electronics	Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition Fair Labor Association (FLA)
Extractives (e.g., oil, gas, mining)	Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)
Internet and Telecommunications	Global Network Initiative (GNI)
Security Services	International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoCA)

Validate that the contractor complies with any responsible business requirements in the contract.

• Verification Resources:
  • Shift's UNGPs Reporting Database includes disclosures of the world’s largest companies and how they compare to the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles (UNGPs).
  • Leading Business & Human Rights (BHR) assessments, including Bank Track, Behind the Brands, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, Know The Chain, Ranking Digital Rights, and Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark, can help to assess companies’ performance on BHR.
  • The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre tracks over 10,000 companies and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) provides information on alleged violations of trade union rights.
• Verification Practices:
  • If the contract requires contractor disclosure or submission of certain documents/items, verify that disclosure or submission is made.
  • If the contract requires membership/certification from a particular organization or compliance with a particular organization’s Code, request confirmation of membership/certification from the contractor.
  • Joining an independent monitoring organization can assist with verifying whether contract requirements are being properly implemented. Two examples are Electronics Watchand Workers Rights Consortium.
  • Take reasonable steps to validate that the contractor complies with other responsible business contract requirements (for example, Federal Acquisition Regulation Clause 52.222-50, Combating Trafficking in Persons and 52.222-19, Child Labor—Cooperation with Authorities and Remedies on U.S. governments procurements).
  • For examples of other verification practices that can be used across sectors, see Guidelines For A Better Construction Industry In The GCC.

• Alert contractor to any identified deficiency and follow-up with contactor to ensure deficiency is corrected.
• Work with similar organizations to identify if deficiency is part of a systemic problem and use combined purchasing power to increase leverage for correcting problem.
• Encourage transparency about any deficiency and corrective actions taken so similar purchasing organizations and contractors can avoid that deficiency.